North Island College is holding an information session next week about a free course intended to help older workers who have been displaced from the workforce get back to work.
The course, New Directions For Older Workers, begins Sept. 12, but next Thursday (Aug. 11 at 2 p.m.), NIC’s Continuing Education department is holding an information session for prospective students to learn more about what opportunities it could offer them.
The program, as implied by its name, is aimed to help those between the ages of 55 and 64 who have been displaced from the workforce find new directions and rewarding new careers later in their work life.
“A large part of the program involves identifying their existing skills and exploring their transferrable skills to a job that may be drastically different from the jobs they may have had in the past,” says NIC regional training officer Wendy Samaroden.
“It provides employment assistance services, such as resumé writing and counselling, and improves participants’ employability through activities such as skills upgrading and work experience.”
Thanks to a funding partnership between the provincial and federal governments through the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers program, New Directions for Older Workers is being offered free of charge to qualified applicants.
The information session next week, Samaroden says, will hopefully show participants that there are options available for them to continue in the workforce.
“It is hoped that the training initiative will propel participants to explore all of their options, including self-employment,” Samroden says, adding that the feedback they have received from previous offerings has indicated that the course was “life-changing” for many participants, and they look forward to offering it again this September.
Those interested in attending next week’s information session can register online at nic.bc.ca.
For more information on the program, contact Samaroden at 250-923-9728 or by email at wendy.samaroden@nic.bc.ca